Ermioni

Ermioni is a small port town on the Argolid peninsula in the northeastern Peloponnese, built on a pine-covered headland that juts into the sea on three sides — enough that locals sometimes call it a "city-island." It sits directly across the water from Hydra and Dokos, and its natural harbour, flanked by two old windmills, has sheltered boats since antiquity.

As ancient Hermione, the town was continuously inhabited from at least Homeric times, first settled by the Dryopians. It grew wealthy on shipbuilding and on the production of porphyra, the Tyrian purple dye extracted from murex snails and prized enough to colour the uniforms of ancient armies, reportedly including those of Alexander the Great. The geographer Pausanias recorded its temples and festivals, among them an unusually rare sanctuary dedicated to Hestia, goddess of the hearth. As of the 2021 census, the community of Ermioni had 2,842 residents.

Just east of the modern town, the wooded headland of Bisti hides a scatter of small pebble coves with clear water, reachable on foot from the harbour, while Kouverta, a short drive south, offers a darker-sand beach in a more sheltered setting. History runs deeper still nearby: the Franchthi Cave, a short distance from Ermioni, holds one of the most important archaeological records in Europe, with evidence of human use stretching back some 40,000 years.

Between its natural anchorage, its layered history and its easy access to the Argolid's beaches, Ermioni is worth a visit if you're chartering a gulet in Greece along the Peloponnese coast.